Data Are Made Anonymous By

CITE Training

According to federal regulations, the expedited review process may be used when the study procedures pose

No more than minimal risk and the research activities fall within regulatory categories identified as eligible

Which of the following statements about the relationship between an institution and the institution’s IRB(s) is correct

Officials of the institution may overrule an IRB approval

According to the federal regulations, research is eligible for exemption, if

The research falls into one of six categories of research activity described in the regulations

In addition to pregnant women, fetuses, and neonates, another subpart of the HHS regulations provides additional protections for which of the following vulnerable populations

Prisioners

A therapist at a free university clinic treats elementary school children with behavior problems who are referred by a social service agency. She is also a doctoral candidate who proposes using data she has and will collect about the children for a case-based research project. Which of the following statements about parental permission is correct

The parents of the children might feel pressure to give permission to the therapist to use their children’s data so that she will continue to provide services to their children

A general requirement for informed consent is that no informed consent may include any exculpatory language. Exculpatory language is that which waives or appears to waive any of the subject’s legal rights or releases or appears to release those conducting the research from liability for negligence. Which of the following statements in a consent form is an example of exculpatory language

Taking part in the research is voluntary, but if you choose to take part, you waive the right to legal redress for any research-related injuries

A criterion for waiving informed consent is that, when appropriate, subjects are provided additional pertinent information after the study. In which of the following studies would it NOT be appropriate to provide subjects with information about missing elements of consent

A study in which subjects were assigned to study activities based on an undesirable or unflattering physical characteristic as assessed by members of the research team

A waiver of the requirement for documentation of informed consent may be granted when

The only record linking the subject and the research is the consent document and the principal risk is a breach of confidentiality

As part of the consent process, the federal regulations require researchers to

In a longitudinal study that will follow children from kindergarten through high school and will collect information about illegal activities, which of the following confidentiality procedures would protect against compelled disclosure of individually identifiable information

Securing a Certificate of Confidentiality

A researcher leaves a research file in her car while she attends a concert and her car is stolen. The file contains charts of aggregated numerical data from a research study with human subjects, but no other documents. The consent form said that no identifying information would be retained, and the researcher adhered to that component. Which of the following statements best characterizes what occurred

There was neither a violation of privacy nor a breach of confidentiality

Data are made anonymous by

Destroying all identifiers connected to the data

When a focus group deals with a potentially sensitive topic, which of the following statements about providing confidentiality to focus group participants is correct

The researcher cannot control what participants repeat about others outside the group

Which of the following constitutes both a breach of confidentiality (the research data have been disclosed, counter to the agreement between researcher and subjects) and a violation of subjects’ privacy (the right of the individuals to be protected against intrusion into their personal lives or affairs)

A faculty member makes identifiable data about sexual behavior available to graduate students, although the subjects were assured that the data would be de-identified

As part of a research study, a physician plans to review medical records of the next 50 of her patients who require magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans for clinical treatment to explore factors related to patients requiring MRI scans. The physician will review the medical records, and write down the clinical indication for the scans, any existing injuries, current prescriptions, as well as other clinical data. The clinical indication for the scans and the other clinical data will be collected in the medical records for treatment purposes as part of standard clinical care. The physician will use a coding system to be able to identify the patient’s information; however, the “key” to the coding system will be stored separately from the data in a locked cabinet that only she will have access to. Which of the following is true

The study is human subject research which is eligible for expedited review

An investigator obtains consent from subjects to review their medical records and HIV status. He plans to go back to the medical record, so the HIV status information is stored along with patient identifiers in a database that he keeps on his laptop computer. His laptop is stolen. This incident constitutes

A breach of confidentiality

A researcher wants to conduct a secondary analysis using a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) database that was collected by the agency solely for surveillance purposes from 1996-2006. The researcher did not participate in the initial collection of the data. The database is publicly available. The database does not include any identifiers. The IRB makes a determination that the individuals whose records will be reviewed do not meet the federal definition of human subjects

The researcher will not be interacting/intervening with subjects and the data has no identifiers

A recommended recruitment strategy for older adult subjects is

Involve local leadership in recruitment

Federal regulations require that additional safeguards have been included in a study to protect the rights and welfare of these subjects